wait, so is this real or fake? This is a model of the Paris casino?

I'm wondering if the effect is achieved solely with the tilt shift lens. That would account for the resolution, depth-of-field, etc., but I don't think it would give the colors that painted-on-model look. I'm guessing there was probably something done with the processing or printing or digital touch-up to change the pallette.

Aha, if you look at some of the photos on the flicr link you can see other examples where the color is normal. So Barbieri is probably doing something to lower the contrast or otherwise desaturate the color.

Barbieri's pix also look like they were taken of old postcards, not the real place. The out-of-focus in unexpected places throws the whole sense of scale off. It's weird looking at a picture of the sign graveyard in Vegas, for instance, where for a change the most visually interesting part is the angles of the fence. These are really cool.

E. Steven, look at the third link and you'll see exactly which Photoshop tricks will wash out the color in the appropriate way, and why it works. Can't wait to try it on my recent Australia pix, if I've got any that are suitable (from above, harsh monodirectional light).